William Raymond Wilkie (14 January 1925 – 18 May 2023) was an Australian meteorologist who worked with the

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Government of Australia, Australian Government that is responsible for providing Weather forecasting, weather forecasts and Meteorology, meteorological services to Australia a ...

, he was best known for presenting television weather reports. He delivered nightly weather reports firstly at the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and then for both the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

with

Nine News Nine News (stylized as 9News) is a national News agency, news service on the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is an hour-long ''9News'' bulletin at 6:00 pm, with editions produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in TCN, S ...

and for

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

, where he presented for ''

Ten Eyewitness News 10 News First (set to rebrand as 10 News on 30 June 2025) is an Australian television newscast, produced by Network 10. The network's flagship news program airs at 5PM on weekday evenings covering local, national and world news, including spor ...

'' and also Ten's national late night bulletin. He was the elder brother of meteorologist and radio and TV weather reporter Alan Wilkie

Biography

Early life

William Raymond Wilkie was born in

Ayr, Queensland Ayr is a rural town and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. It is the centre of a sugarcane-growing region and the administrative centre for the Burdekin Shire Council. In the , the local ...

on 14 January 1925. to William Wilkie senior (born c.1892) and Daisy Isobel Lewis (c. 1900-1945), his mother died when he was 20 and his younger brother Allan was 16 Wilkie served with the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

as a flight lieutenant, where he was posted in England and Europe. He graduated from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

and then studied meteorology in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Career

Wilkie obtained employment with the Bureau of Meteorology, where he worked for 35 years. During this time, he served as a regional director in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and in Darwin. Wilkie was on duty in the Darwin office in 1974 when

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

struck the city. He was subsequently involved in the establishment of the Bureau's Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC). Wilkie started in career in television presenting weather reports in 1956, on the ABC and spent 14 years at the

from 1977 and 1991 From 1985, he worked for Network Ten in Brisbane where he presented weather bulletin's for ''Ten Eyewitness News''. From 1991, he also presented the weather on Ten Eyewitness News with

Katrina Lee Katrina Lee is an Australian executive director and former television news presenter. Lee is perhaps best known for her association with Network Ten where she was a Logie Award-winning news presenter at TEN-10 in Sydney from the 1970s to the 19 ...

and

John Mangos John (born 9 July 1956) is an Australian news presenter. Mangos has previously been a news presenter on Sky News Australia. He has also made cameo appearances on the Australian comedy programs ''Pizza'', '' Swift and Shift Couriers'' and ''Ho ...

for Ten's Sydney Bulletin and also presented for the national late news bulletin. In 1988, he authored a book called ''Ray Wilkie's Australian Weather'' where he recounted his experience during Cyclone Tracy.

Personal life

Ray Wilkie brother of Alan Wilkie, a meteorologist and television weather presenter based in Sydney, who also worked for the Commonwealth of Meteorology from 1950 and 1960, and became the first weather presenter on television presenting at the ABC from 1956 to 1960, and then the Seven Network from 1968 to 1976, but was best known for his 25 year tenure presenting bulletins on ''

National Nine News Nine News (stylized as 9News) is a national News agency, news service on the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is an hour-long ''9News'' bulletin at 6:00 pm, with editions produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in TCN, S ...

'' from 1977 until 2001. Alan died in Sydney, New South Wales on 10 July 2023, at the age of 94.

Honours

In 1977, Wilkie received a

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal () is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada ...

. In 1984, he was awarded an OAM in the

1984 Australia Day Honours The 1984 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 1984 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), with ...

in recognition of his public service. In 2020, he underwent surgery at

Greenslopes Private Hospital Greenslopes Private Hospital is a private health care provider located in Greenslopes, Brisbane, Australia. It was named Australia's Best Private Hospital, 1999 and received the Australian Private Hospitals Association's, Hospital Quality of E ...

to correct a bowel condition.

Death

Ray Wilkie died in Brisbane, Queensland on 18 May 2023, at the age of 98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkie, Ray 1925 births 2023 deaths Australian television weather presenters Australian television newsreaders and news presenters People from Ayr, Queensland